US Senator eviscerates White House over Saudi crimes in Yemen

US Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) speaks with reporters at the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, the US, June 26, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

A US Senator has given the administration of US President Donald Trump a dressing-down for brazenly denying the evident killing of Yemeni civilians by Saudi Arabia and its allies and for continuing to assist a Saudi-led coalition in an invasion of Yemen.

“How can the Trump administration deny what everyone can see with our own two eyes?” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday, ABC News reported.

“It is as clear as day that the Saudi-led coalition is recklessly — and likely intentionally — killing innocent civilians and children and they’re doing it with US bombs and so-called targeting assistance,” Senator Murphy said.

His comments came after the White House “certified” that the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — the two main aggressor regimes in the war on Yemen — had taken steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians in their military operations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a certification required by law, claimed late on Tuesday that the two Arab countries were taking “demonstrable actions” to minimize civilian casualties in Yemen.

Senator Murphy, who is also a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tartly dismissed that “certification.”

“These certifications are a farce and we should all be ashamed that our government is turning a blind eye to likely war crimes,” he said.

The development comes amid growing pressure to halt the US support for the Saudi-led coalition, which includes refueling military aircraft, sharing intelligence, and selling advanced weaponry to the aggressor regimes.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies launched a brutal war against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had earlier resigned and abdicated his responsibilities.

The Houthi Ansarullah movement then took over state matters to prevent the country from plunging into administrative chaos.

The Saudi-led war has devastated the country and left some 15,000 people dead.

Last month, a report by the United Nations (UN) said that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and militia allied to them were responsible “most direct civilian casualties” and were targeting residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats, and even medical facilities.